A typical data storage system includes a housing that encloses a variety of components. For example, one type of a data storage system includes at least one rotating disc or storage medium for storage of digital information in a plurality of circular, concentric data tracks. The storage medium passes under a respective bearing slider surface. Each slider carries one or more transducers, which write information to and/or reads information from the data surfaces of the disc(s). The slider and transducers are often together referred to as a “head.”
Such data storage systems also include an actuator assembly that moves the head or heads from an inner diameter to an outer diameter of the storage medium, across data tracks under control of electronic circuitry. The actuator assembly includes a track accessing arm, a suspension for each head and a voice coil motor. In general, each head is supported by a suspension that is in turn attached to the track accessing arm. The voice coil motor rotates the track accessing arm about a pivot shaft to position a head over a desired data track.
Certain types of data storage devices include high risk data regions where the storage medium is susceptible to damage and/or where data integrity is important. One example region includes a load/unload region where the head is loaded onto the storage medium and unloaded from the storage medium within a reserved load/unload region on the medium. Commonly, data is not stored in the load/unload region because it has always been considered a high-risk area due to its great susceptibility to damage caused by its frequent contact with the slider. However, as the size of data storage systems continues to reduce, there is a continued demand for more and more data capacity. One way to capitalize on data capacity is to store data in the load/unload region of the storage medium.